Tag women in film

Our next WAVE screening is TANGO MACBETH Wednesday January 21st 6pm. Admission is FREE and we supply the popcorn. Impact Hub Philadelphia is at 1227 N. 4th Street in Northern Liberties, between Girard Avenue and Thompson Street. The director Nadine Patterson and editor Sharon Mullally will be present for a Q&A after the film. This is the first and probably only time they will speak in public about the process of editing this unusual film.

Films about rehearsals rarely have the intensity of TANGO MACBETH. The blood, sweat and tears of the creation process are on full display. The work is an intricate puzzle: a play, within a documentary, within a narrative framework. During the two hottest weeks of the year, the cast and crew endure 100 degree heat while rehearsing and shooting Macbeth in the 100 year old Plays and Players Theater. An upscale reality television format mixed with surreal black and white interpretations of dramatic action, cause the viewer to rethink their notions of ‘play’, ‘documentary’, ‘casting’ and the filmmaking process. This film is great for lovers of Shakespeare and for people unfamiliar with his work. The multi-ethnic cast and crew create an earthy visceral interpretation of the text, which opens up the work for all audiences.

questions for the director Nadine Patterson

Q: Did the rehearsal really happen like that, or was it scripted?

A: Initially in the early drafts of the script, the moments in between scenes of dramatic action in Macbeth were written. But when we shot those scenes they felt very fake and untrue. So I called the cast and crew together and explained how things would proceed. I told them to think of it like jazz. The tune is Macbeth and everyone gets their chance to riff on it. Three cameras were going at all times to capture the action on stage and in the dressing rooms. All of the witty repartee is unscripted, and all of the angst is real.

Q: Why did you choose to film the actors during rehearsal and make that a part of the film?

A: Economics! We could not afford to mount the entire film in the lavish style of the scenes at Arcadia, so we used those scenes as the actors’ imagining how the scene would unfold. We cut between the gritty rehearsal and the idealized way of how the actors imagine the scenes happening.

Q: I don’t do Shakespeare. Why should I see the film?

A: Shakespeare is for everyone! He is one of the greatest dramatist in the English language. Reading and experiencing Shakespeare enables us to learn about being human.

Q: How can I get past the language?

A: The actors are so good, it won’t matter. As long as you get the emotional intent of each scene, you will be fine.

Q: Did you know you would be in the film at such a key moment?

A: No. As the director I knew I would be caught on camera, but I did not think my role would be so dramatic.

Q: How can I see the film?

A: Come to the screening at Impact Hub Philly on Wednesday January 21st at 6pm. If you can’t make it you can buy the film online for $7.99 at http://tangomacbeth.vhx.tv/. Thank you for your time.

WAVE is a program of HipCinema & Impact Hub Philly. It is co-sponsored by: Philadelphia Women in Film & Television and Griot Works.

WAVE Cinema is a meeting place for film and media enthusiasts to experience work rarely seen in local venues by filmmakers and media artists from the PA-DE-NJ region and beyond. Each screening will feature audience Q&A with the makers. Works selected will have major creative input by women. We will meet every 3rd Wednesday of each month. Mark your calendar 6pm to 8:00pm every third Wedneday until April 2015. Events are FREE and open to the public. Impact Hub Philadelphia is at 1227 N. 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122.Directions to Impact Hub Philadelphia are here. It is north on 1227 4th Street between Girard Avenue and Thompson Street. The 57 Bus, 15 Trolley and Market Frankfurt El Line are within walking distance.

A good time was had by all at the Impact Hub Philly screening of Alison Bagnall’s THE DISH & THE SPOON. Local filmmakers Mike Dennis, Marlene Patterson and Suzanne Landau were in attendance. The after screening discussion lasted over an hour. AFI classmate Mike Dennis asked Alison what she learned the most from her American Film Institute training. She said how to work with actors. To paraphrase Alison: “People think actors are just being difficult prima-donas, they are not. My job is to protect them while they exist in this bubble of the film. They embody the film [in a way that other members of the crew do not]. Actors need their space [to create credible, complex characters].”

Our next WAVE screening is TANGO MACBETH Wednesday January 21st 6pm. Admission is FREE and we supply the popcorn. Impact Hub Philadelphia is at 1227 N. 4th Street in Northern Liberties, between Girard Avenue and Thompson Street.

WAVE is a program of HipCinema & Impact Hub Philly. It is co-sponsored by: Philadelphia Women in Film & Television and Griot Works.

Our first screening at Impact Hub Philly was a success! Thanks to all who came out to share work and create community! Mike Dennis of REELBLACK, Jos Duncan of GRIOT WORKS, Suzanne Landau and Diane Walsh of PWIFT, Amazing Impact Hubber Tatiana Bacchus and many others were in attendance. Our next screening is Wednesday December 17th at 6pm, Impact Hub Philly, 1227 N. 4th Street between Girard Avenue and Thompson Street. We will present the Philadelphia premiere of THE DISH & THE SPOON starring Greta Gerwig. The director Alison Bagnall will be there to field your questions about how she made this indie film gem.

From the 2012 New York Times review [spoilers] by Stephen Holden: “The intriguing title of Alison Bagnall’s … indie gem, “The Dish & the Spoon,” comes from the Mother Goose nursery rhyme “Hey! Diddle Diddle,” with its cow jumping over the moon and dish running away with a spoon.

That fanciful imagery is a nifty corollary to the evanescent relationship of a distraught young woman and a vagabond waif who meet by chance in this film and wander like lost children through a Delaware resort town during the off-season.

Beautifully photographed, “The Dish & the Spoon” is awash in images of rain-soaked streets and gray wintry skies. In a recurrent visual motif that deepens the atmosphere of wistful regret, flocks of Canada geese are shown taking flight.

The odd couple, Rose (Greta Gerwig), who has fled her cheating husband in rage and despair, and a scrawny, baby-faced Briton identified only as Boy (Olly Alexander), make a plaintively appealing pair. She discovers her tousled-haired sidekick, who resembles the 19-year-old Bob Dylan, asleep in a lighthouse. He initially tells her he is a “rent boy,” then takes it back and says he traveled to America to be with a girl who dumped him once he arrived. He relates another story about his mother’s suicide when he was 14. Is any of it true? You wonder.

Rose’s description of Thanksgiving and the relationship of the Pilgrims to the Indians is probably a first for a fiction feature: “We gave them smallpox on purpose, and then we continued to sort of systematically kill them, but what we celebrate is the meal that we had before any of that happened, when everything was good.” [Obviously the reviewer has not seen the 2003 film PIECES OF APRIL, the perfect Thanksgiving movie where April does describe the holiday in similar terms to a Chinese American family.] The film follows the odd couple as make their way through various incidents, alternating between poignant and funny as they journey to self discovery.

Shot with the Canon 7D by Mark Schwartzbard and edited with precision by Darrin Navarro, this film shows what can be achieved on a small budget with talented actors, talented crew and a director who is a master at her craft.

Alison Bagnall is a writer director of narrative films. Her credits include THE DISH AND THE SPOON (2011), starring Greta Gerwig, and PIGGIE (2003). Additional credits include BUFFALO 66 (1998) (co-writer). Currently, Alison is working on two projects. FUNNY BUNNY (in post-production) stars Kentucker Audley, Olly Alexander, and Joslyn Jensen. Funny bunny tells the story of an anti-childhood obesity crusader and a maternally neglected trustfunder who attempt to connect with a troubled and reclusive factory-farming activist. Alison is writing the screenplay for a feature film, BROWN EYES BLUE EYES for Fairweather Pictures, based on the true story of a teacher from Iowa who in 1968 created a seemingly benign experiment that would allow her all white third graders to experience the psychological effects of racism. Alison is based in Philadelphia.

WAVE Cinema is a meeting place for film and media enthusiasts to experience work rarely seen in local venues by filmmakers and media artists from the PA-DE-NJ region and beyond. Each screening will feature audience Q&A with the makers. Works selected will have major creative input by women. We will meet every 3rd Wednesday of each month for the next 6 months. Events are FREE and open to the public. Our next film is THE DISH & THE SPOON starring Greta Gerwig and directed by Alison Bagnall. Audience Q&A with director Alison Bagnall to follow the film. Mark your calendar 6pm to 8:00pm Wednesday December 17th, 2014. Impact Hub Philadelphia is at 1227 N. 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122.Directions to Impact Hub Philadelphia are here. It is north on 1227 4th Street between Girard Avenue and Thompson Street. The 57 Bus, 15 Trolley and Market Frankfurt El Line are within walking distance.

We had an all star ensemble of movie goers at the Tugg AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 screening of Tango Macbeth. Warrington Hudlin came to see the film, along with other notable independent filmmakers based in New York such as Mariette Monpierre. Alexandra Bailey who plays Lady Macbeth also attended the screening. F&M alumni Crystal Jones, Joel Bramble, and Ellen Henneberry attended the event, as well as London Film School alumni Dana Verde. And a group of young women from the KippStar College Prep Academy attended. More photos to come! [photos by Mariette Monpierre]

If you missed the Harlem screening you can buy and watch the film on Digital HD via VHXTV for $7.99. Once you purchase it, you can stream or download the film on any device. We are offering a limited number of $1 off coupons. Just type in the code “TMAC” at http://tangomacbeth.vhx.tv/.

Synopsis: Shakespeare, dance and world music! A theater company rehearses Macbeth. A film crew documents their every move. The drama of the play intertwines with the drama of making the film. It’s unlike any version of Macbeth you have ever seen.

Celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday with us on April 23rd in Harlem [buy tickets at this link tugg.com/events/8510] and experience one of the world’s greatest dramas! Since the days of Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) African Americans have been producing multi-ethnic and explosive renditions of Shakespeare’s work. TANGO MACBETH continues that tradition. Music by Lenny Seidman and choreography by Zane Booker propel audiences to see this classic tale in a new light. If you love Shakespeare, this film is for you. If you are not familiar with Shakespeare, this film is for you! Nadine Patterson’s documentary-fiction hybrid creates an earthy, gritty and at times elegant space where the story unfolds. The film features riveting performances by Brian Anthony Wilson (Detective Holley on “The Wire”) and new comer Alexandra Bailey. Buy the film to download or stream for $7.99 at tangomacbeth.vhx.tv/.

It is not easy being a woman director. Nor is it easy being a woman in any kind of role in front of or behind the camera. But it’s even more difficult to be considered for a position on the crew, or for a part originally written for a man.

What Bigelow Effect? Number of Women Directors in Hollywood Falls to 5 Percent

The Oscar nominations this morning give us another year where there are no women directors included in the list. This year we won’t see Kathryn Bigelow up on the stage giving out the best director award to the next winner. When she won two years ago there was much hope that the numbers of women directing in Hollywood would get better.You can’t really judge anything in year one because it takes so long to make films. But here we are in year two and the numbers have gone down. They didn’t even stay the same. They went down. Women make up 5 percent of directors in Hollywood in 2011. I find that a devestating number. Five percent. That’s down from 7 percent in 2010 and down from 7 percent in 2009. That’s down from 9 percent in 1998. Women made more movies as directors in 1998 than they did in 2011.

This is gut check time people.

People like to think that things are getting better and on the surface it may look like that. Women make up 18% of all behind the scenes roles in Hollywood. That’s up from 16% last year. But that is virtually the same amount as when these statistics started being tabulated in 1998. No progress overall in over a decade.Sure, some of the numbers have improved. Cinematographers have gone up two points to 4 percent. Women writers to 14%. Women producers are at 25%. But none of these numbers have shown any significant improvement in over a decade.

Women’s progress in Hollywood is stalled and has been for a long time. Don’t believe the bullsh@# that things are better. it’s all smoke and mirrors. Something serious must be done.

As always, a big thanks for Dr. Martha Lauzen at SDSU for showing the reality on women’s progress or lack thereof in Hollywood.

In 2011, women comprised 18% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 2 percentage points from 2010 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998.

Women accounted for 5% of directors, a decrease of 2 percentage points from 2010 and approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 1998.

The following summary provides employment figures for 2011 and compares the most recent statistics with those from previous years.

Findings

This study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 2,636 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (foreign films omitted) of 2011.

A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2011 and 1998 reveals that the percentage of women directors has declined. The percentages of women writers and producers have increased slightly. The percentages of women executive producers, editors, and cinematographers have remained the same.

Women comprised 5% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2011. Ninety four percent (94%) of the films had no female directors.

Women accounted for 14% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2011. Seventy seven percent (77%) of the films had no female writers.

Women comprised 18% of all executive producers working on the top 250 films of 2011. Fifty nine percent (59%) of the films had no female executive producers.

Women accounted for 25% of all producers working on the top 250 films of 2011. Thirty six percent (36%) of the films had no female producers.

Women accounted for 20% of all editors working on the top 250 films of 2011. Seventy six percent (76%) of the films had no female editors.

Women comprised 4% of all cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2011. Ninety six percent (96%) of the films had no female cinematographers.

Women were most likely to work in the documentary, drama, and comedy genres. They were least likely to work in the horror, action, and animated genres.